CHANGE YOUR PERCEPTION – CHANGE YOUR LIFE

In my third post “Putting Ourselves Back Together”, (see archives) we talked of awareness, symbols and identifying a symptom. I used a simple quiz to identify the shadow side of an illness. A friend of mine “Lisa” (not her real name) tapped the depths of her unconscious to answer this little questionnaire. Looking back at this entry, it felt undone. Lisa was pushed out of her comfort zone to answer the questions, I felt they also deserved an interpretation.

To walk in balance we must be able to reconcile all aspects of our life, good and bad. One cannot exist without the other—they are intertwined together.

This segment is about changing one’s perspective and what Marianne Williamson calls a Miracle.

“Sometimes a miracle is a change in material conditions, such as physical healing. At other times, it is a psychological or emotional change. It is a shift not so much in an objective situation—although that often occurs—as it is a shift in how we perceive a situation. What changes primarily is how we hold an experience in our minds—how we experience the experience………In asking for miracles we are seeking a practical goal: a return to inner peace. We’re not asking for something out us to change, but for something inside us to change.”Marianne Williamson – A Return to Love

Symbols reveal a whole spectrum of experiences; no one person experiences them the same. They are a way of expressing our emotions, energy and mind that can change from moment to moment. Each of us process the world and its symbols differently…..we each own a unique subconscious mind that perceives the world with three major senses, sight, hearing and touch. Usually we use these senses at different times, gravitating towards the one we use most of the time. We start sentences with “I See”, “I Hear”, “ I Touch”. The other two senses, taste and smell are used too but don’t seem to be as dominant.

Take the tarot for example, if I asked each and every one of you to give your interpretation of one card, we’d receive a variety of positive and negative answers—a variety of weaknesses and strengths. In a tarot reading, these weaknesses and strengths are seen as gift—a gift of changing our life. As you read through this chapter, you may feel you’d like to offer Lisa another perspective on her symbols. If you do get an intuitive hit, by all means offer your insights. We all learn from one another.

“I have now come to understand the extraordinary importance of leading an integral life. That is, allowing myself to first notice, then to blend, all the aspect of who I am—those that I and others called ‘positive’ and those that I and others have called ‘negative’—into a greater Whole.”
Neale Donald Walsch.

To save time jumping back and forth, I repeated the questions and Lisa’s answers from the previous post—Putting Ourselves Back Together.

The questions were….

If your illness were an animal, what type of animal would it be?
If your illness was a plant, what plant would it be?
If your illness was a landscape, how would it seem?
If your illness was a body of water, how would it be? Is it deep, clear, what’s the temperature, is there any movement
If your illness was a color, what color would it be? Is it bold or weak in color? How intense?
If you could pick a geometric shape for your illness, what would it be?
If this illness was a type of music, what would you hear?
If this illness was a tool, what would it be?
If this illness was a character from history, who would it be?

And Lisa answered…….

animal: Fisher Cat;
plant: Venus Fly Trap
place; Barren mountains, like out in the western US
body of water: Raging sea; deep as can be; freezing and so dark of color that one couldn’t see one’s hand in front of them.
color: dirty maroon
geometric shape: rhombus
music: heavy metal
historical figure: Jack the Ripper

She explained why she chose Jack the Ripper…..…..

“Oh, I picked Jack the Ripper as my historical figure representing my migraines…it’s because someone like that is an invader. He invaded lives and snuffed them out. When I have a migraine it’s as if I’m being robbed of life…even if it’s only for a few hours, but it’s obviously worse when I get a “three day sucker” type migraine that robs me of DAYS!

And the other symbols too……pretty apparent that my migraines remind me of gnashing teeth…ie. the ruthless teeth of a Fisher cat; the sharp tines of a Venus fly trap (the trap alone is significant ’cause that’s how I feel when I’ve got a migraine…trapped in my own head pain); the jagged mountain peaks; and the off-kilter look of a rhombus (out of sorts, like a flattened square). As for the raging sea…when I was a kid I was even afraid to LOOK at books that contained the fish that are so far down in the depths that they glow white and have horrendously, fiendish teeth. Raging, because that’s how a really bad migraine feels…it’s out of control. And then there’s the fact that I fear water and can’t swim…another out of control feeling. Now as for the dull maroon, we’ve discussed that before as being a color that bothers me. And regarding the Heavy Metal music…it also sounds out of control to me; relentless pounding like my head feels with a migraine.”

Let’s look at Lisa’s symbols and see how we can help to see them in a new light.

For a person, she chose Jack the Ripper. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_the_Ripper And yes he did, as Lisa indicated, invade lives and snuff them out. His victims were prostitutes—ladies of the night. Symbolically prostitutes negotiate their spirits and lives for a paycheck. Is emotional and financial security an issue in Lisa’s life? Haven’t many of the mystics of our time told us—it is how we approach our ‘wealth’ or lack of it, is an indication on how we ‘value’ ourselves.

(In the next chapter, we will be discussing the energetic system of the body and how it relates to an illness such as fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, migraines, etc. We will discover how the lower abdomen (Sacral/2nd Chakra) is connected to the element of water and the lymphatic glands, as well as our emotional mood swings and what we love—such as money, relationships, creativity and sexuality.)

Jack the Ripper WAS a legend in his own time, his rampage of killing made him immortal. He simultaneously lives in the past and present time. And his immortality will continue in the future. He’s known in every language and around the world. He lives in schools, history books, psychology books, portrayed in police training as a serial killer, movies, novels, etc. He made his ‘mark’ in the world. Without judging his actions—he knew what he wanted, focused his will and intention to attract it. So, how is Lisa like Jack the Ripper. And how or why does she attract him into her consciousness. What is his purpose in her life and what is he trying to teach her?

If I were to ask her to close her eyes and really try and see him……is there something going on in you right now that makes it difficult to focus your attention on him? How do you feel? Can you guess or assume what he sees as he looks at you? What would you say to him? What would he say to you? It would be interesting if Lisa did have this dialogue and let us know!

I love how synchronicity works! After typing this, Lisa wrote me an email and said…

”AND, I think that past-lives regression (she just read the book Many Lives, Many Masters by Brian L. Weiss, M.D.) could be something that just might put my migraines and stomach issues into perspective. Plus, maybe it’s the key to unlocking the deeper, psychic intuition/knowledge that I feel is deep down somewhere inside me. It’s slowly starting to rise to the surface, but I think this kind of therapy could get the process moving in the right direction. Patience for me is key, ’cause obviously I just can’t go traipsing off to find a psychotherapist who does this kind of work just now.”

Then I found this…

“If we do not claim the soul’s power on our own behalf, we become its victims. We suffer our emotions rather than feel them working for us. We hold our thoughts and passions inward, disconnecting them from life, and then they stir up trouble within………We all know what it feels like to hold anger in our hearts, as it builds and transmutes into corrosive resentment and rage. Even unexpressed love creates a pressure that demands release in some kind of expression.

If violence is the repressed life force showing itself symptomatically, then the cure for violence is care for the soul’s power. It is foolish to deny signs of this power—individuality, eccentricity, self expression, passion—because it cannot be truly repressed. If there is crime in our streets, it is due, from the viewpoint of soul…….to the failure of the soul and its spirit to unveil themselves.”
Thomas Moore, Care of the Soul

Interesting that Lisa brought up her stomach issues and that was where I was heading with her symbol for the plant—the Venus Fly Trap. I remember having a little venus fly trap when I was around 10 years old. I’d put meat or flies in its trap and watch the claws slowly close—fascinating! Energetically, once this happens, enzymes are released onto the insect or meat which is then reabsorbed into the plant. When the claws reopen, all that’s left is the dried remains of the fly which eventually is blown away in the wind.

When Lisa gets migraines usually her stomach acts up too. She feels nauseous and when severe she vomits or actually makes herself sick to feel better. Are enzymes part of the problem?

“Only one digestive enzyme, amylase (for starch), is present in the mouth. However, food is normally not in the mouth long enough to permit complete digestion and little nutrient absorption takes place in the mouth…… Amylase (for starch) is inactivated, or destroyed, when stomach pH falls below 6.5”http://www.bodyandfitness.com/Information/Health/enzyme.htm

And this…..

“One of the major functions of stomach acid is to initiate the digestion of large protein molecules. If this digestive function is not performed efficiently, incompletely digested protein fragments may be absorbed into the bloodstream. The absorption of these large molecules may contribute to the development of food allergies

and immunological disorders.6 7

In addition, stomach acid normally provides a barrier against bacteria, fungi, and other organisms that are present in food and water. People with inadequate stomach acidity may therefore be at risk of having “unfriendly” microorganisms colonize their intestinal tract.8 9 Some of these organisms produce toxic substances that can be absorbed by the body.”http://www.publix.com/wellness/notes/Display.do?id=Concern&childId=Indigestion

Symbolically, the Venus Fly Trap could be associated with the Vampire archetype. Actually so can Jack The Ripper.—Vampires are immortal, they have no heart and drain the life-force from their ‘victims’.

Vampires draw upon the ‘vanity’ of an individual, who happens to be their ‘object of attention’. Interestingly, the vampire cannot survive without a strong co-dependency—they are also shadow or night creatures.

More on the vampire….

“The Vampire has the ability to derive energy and even erotic excitement by drawing on the lifeblood of others. Although this may seem negative atfirst, and clearly has strong shadow implications, it nonetheless can be a valuable asset. The ability to draw sustenance from others can be positive as long as it doesn’t rely on draining them of their own life. Even a co-dependent relationship has the germ of a potentially strong one: the desire to be needed, to be a source of support for one’s partner. It can be converted from a negative relationship by reversing the polarity and requiring the other person to contribute positively to the relationship. If they are not willing, then, of course, the relationship needs to end. So the positive Vampire has a genius for finding the core of value and life energy in another — going for the jugular, as it were — and eliciting that energy in a constructive, non-co-dependent fashion.”
Caroline Myss

Lisa’s geometric symbol was the Rhombus. My first reaction was—what the heck is a rhombus? So of course I googled rhombus and discovered it is like a like a diamond, or kite—but flat. Most of the sites I found were on mathematical equations—far too advanced for my little brain.

“Swarovski® crystal flat backs in a fabulously faceted diamond-shape — known as rhombus. Use the rhombus flat backs on bridal veils, shoes, earstuds, as buttons, add to polymer clay designs and more. The flat backs have a silver-foil backing that adheres with a jeweler’s glue, such as G-S Hypo Cement or Jewel Bond”http://www.firemountaingems.com/details.asp?PN=H206589CY

Wow! Lisa is into crystals and would like to be very creative with them. Could this be the new perspective for her symbol, rhombus?

Rhombus ARE like flat crystals. On a positive note, crystals contain a vast amount of knowledge which is pressed into crystalline form. They contain a life force that over time has come together in time and space. Symmetrical in shape, they mimic nature’s goal to become whole.

When I brought Lisa’s shape into my awareness, it felt as if I couldn’t breathe. My chest felt tight and compressed. The pressure, unrelenting. Breath is vital to life! Lisa sits for hours at a time, keyboarding, creating, writing, etc. When we sit for long hours, we can close off our oxygen supply to the brain, which creates tension and stress in the body. Our breathing becomes shorter, shallower and we breathe more in the lungs than in the belly. Do this ring any bells Lisa?

Maybe intervals of conscious breathing may help to keep a steady flow of energy into her system. A simple way of allowing oxygen to flow through her body, her blood and veins. It would also bathe her organs, like the liver, gallbladder and pancreas and prevent them from becoming constricted due to low energy. One of the liver’s prime functions is purifying the liquids of the body. When affected, the liver can cause headaches, fatigue or eye problems. In fact, so can the gallbladder. One of the liver’s function is working with producing Vitamin D, which is essential to absorb calcium. Also, one of the functions of the liver is to remove estrogen from the body—wherever there are excesses in our body, the liver and gallbladder work at eliminating them. But when these organs become ‘bogged down’ they becomes congested and sensitive—which also irritates the nervous system. When this happens we feel exhausted—we can’t think—we can’t function properly. When the liver and gallbladder lack energy, they will look for it in other parts of your body—especially the brain!

The “place” Lisa picked was “Barren mountains, like out in the western US”. Well, mountains are considered the realm of meeting our Spirit or as others call, the Higher Self. Barren though, feels cold or hot, thick, empty. It’s like we’re experiencing a draught, my mouth feels dry and parched, the blowing sands hurting my eyes. I don’t feel creative—in fact I feel immobilized. It seems Lisa’s geometrical symbol, rhombus and place, barren mountains are connected somehow—especially to her digestive area.

And well we’re at it, let’s look at what the intestines do. They absorb energy from our food and break it down into bits and parts. Then they analyze these minute peaces and see how some of them could be made useful. Some could be combined with others, while others are stored for later use—others are eliminated and deemed useless. Now doesn’t that sound a Virgo or Chiron? They discriminate and deem what is useful or what isn’t and works around them to create something that is of service to humanity. Chiron’s symbol and service is in the shape of a “Key”!

When we become stressed, anxious or over-taxed, we feel weak, lack confidence—we find ourselves forgetting things. All this tension rises to a peak—a barren mountain.

What if Lisa could somehow climb up the mountain and find a sacred place or power spot of her own. What if Lisa meditated on the peak and asked—“what do I need to know”—from this mountain of power. Would it open the flood gates for spiritual energies to flow in this restricted place? What of bringing nature spirits into this sanctuary and the land below? I wonder?

The color she picked was Maroon. Lisa and I talked of great length about this color at an earlier time and do you think I could find it—NOT! Maroon resembles a deep red color- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maroon_(color)

Maroon feels like a serious and practical color that works best with routine, order and organization. Many business women wear the color maroon to the office and important meetings. It is a ‘practical’ energy of order, logic and priority. As I step into its energy it speaks ‘seriously’ of focusing on a specific course or direction as well as looking for solutions. In regards to Lisa, it feels physically, emotionally and intellectually confining. So how does this color relate to migraines? Is it due to diet and a lack of oxygen,.exercise. Again, I’m seeing issues with Lisa’s digestive organs—the stomach, gallbladder and liver can be seen energetically as a dirty red color when afflicted. Does maroon, red mixed with black, relate also to the lower part of our body or 1st Chakra*?

There are similarities to Lisa’s chakras and migraines as well as to fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue—as well as a host of other illnesses. The next section will expand on this energetic system of the body.

(*There are seven ‘energy wheels of light’ in the body called Chakras. If you’ve ever seen a prism, the chakras act just like it, separating White Light into a spectrum of colors. These seven chakras are represented ‘symbolically’ as the seven candlesticks in the book, Revelations. They also represent the seven mansions, Saint Teresa of Avila talked about in her book “The Interior Castle”. And according to yogi tradition, the kundalini is also connected to theseven energy centers in the body. When opened they are seen as swirling rainbow colors.

Not only do these centers contain information about your life, they store and manage your Power. Two subtle energies, one female (+) and the other male (-), connects the chakras. The female carries life currents through the left side of the body and the male carries life currents through the right side of the body. They cross-over at the medulla oblongata** in the neck. These positive and negative currents give rise to the astral and physical nervous system. Also, there is a lifeforce a current that flows through these channels, an intelligent energy that connects and transforms these positive and negative energies into fuel or energy.

**At the base of the brain is the Medulla Oblongata. This area at the back of the neck feeds nerve energy to our five senses. When our nerve energy becomes depleted, it never reaches our ears, eyes, throat or mouth. Our five senses are literally starved and react by creating a physical problem. When we are drained of energy, of power, our body steals it from our eyes, ears, nose, throat and mouth.

The Base or 1st chakra is Red in color. It warms our bodies, our spirit, and fires our soul. It flows like a river through our veins and arteries bringing passion into our life. Black in red (maroon), can make our blood run thick and cold and slow—slow deliberate movements. I also see Maroon as a color of what we believe are our limits. Limits could represent a financial or material setback. The 1st chakra is about our basic survival needs, our security, our stability, our ability to pay the rent, keep the car in good repair, keep our homes clean, etc. It represents our country our family our home.

Perhaps limitation and how Lisa deals with it, is an important lesson in her life at the moment. We all have limits. When we reach them, we feel stopped in our tracks, boxed in or crushed by its weight (rhombus). Lisa must feel this at times with her migraines. Are their emotional issues in her life that are creating distractions in her life? Has she overlooked little things when in a flurry of activity? Is she not comfortable with small issues and petty details? Maybe the question she should ask is what she is learning from the color maroon, and how to apply it in her life?

Lisa’s symbol for music was Heavy Metal. Well, I’m not a big fan of this myself. Listening to a song or two is enjoyable, but one after another, would definitely send me into the land of hysteria . It affects the nervous system and cuts away at my thought processes—it’s hard to feel the body against this excruciating loudness. It rips away at our concentration. What is its purpose? Heavy Metal music can energize as well as deplete us—just as creation and destruction co-exist. Without destruction we wouldn’t exist. So heavy metal music somehow tips the scales of balance—is its meaning somehow telling Lisa there is too much change—or a lack of change? Is our biology not in sync with the rhythms and cycles of nature. Are we out of sync with the Universe or vice versa?

is it possible ‘heavy metals’ are the problem? A simple hair analysis can detect this.

“Analysis of hair samples has many advantages as a preliminary screening method for the presence of toxic substances deleterious to health after exposures in air, dust, sediment, soil and water, food and toxics in the environment. The advantages of hair analysis include the non-invasiveness, low cost and the ability to measure a large number of, potentially interacting, toxic and biologically essential elements. Hence, head hair analysis is now increasingly being used as a preliminary test to see whether individuals have absorbed poisons linked to behavioral health problems.”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hair_analysis

And this…..

“Chemical analysis showed extraordinarily high levels of lead in strands of Beethoven’s hair, according to William Walsh, chief scientist for the Health Research Institute in Naperville, Ill. The institute performs chemical analysis of trace elements in the hair of children and adults and relates it to nutritional and biological conditions that contribute to behavior disorders and mental illness. Walsh led the Beethoven hair study in collaboration with Argonne physicists.”http://www.anl.gov/Media_Center/Frontiers/2002/c3facil.html

Last but not least is Lisa’s answer to ‘a body of water’ — Raging sea; deep as can be; freezing and so dark of color that one couldn’t see one’s hand in front of them.

“The myth of going under water, of being drowned and born again, has been passed down through history in different religions and different cultures as the myth of baptism—the being immersed in the river to be drowned, to die, in order to be born again. This is a daring leap into non-being with the prospect of achieving new being.”Rollo May

The first that came to my mind, in regard to the raging sea, was a force powerful enough to create a tidal wave. That force doesn’t exist on earth, it is the Moon. A full Moon’s gravitational pull can create great bodies of water to swell—and the earth is composed of almost 60% water. In an astrological birth chart the Moon represents the mother, emotions and shows the way people react to situations and others they encounter. The full Moon can bring an energy of calm—we surrender to a force greater than your own—like a spiritual and healing connection.

The sea is unpredictable—an undertow can drag us into the deep and dark, into the ‘twilight zone’. We fight a surge of panic that rises within us—our minds in turmoil and chaos. Our arms propel in powerful strokes to rise to the surface, our heart and brain feel like they’ll explode. It’s a feeling as if we will die.

I wonder if this is how Lisa feels. If it is, what is it that she is really struggling against. In real life I know Lisa can’t swim and this may be the cause. Perhaps as well, it comes from a past life. Did she drown in another lifetime?

What if she imagined a whale, instead of those nasty fish in the deep. Whales can take a breath and travel thousands of meters in the dark sea in search of food. As humans we couldn’t follow the whale without a submersible, the pressure of the deep waters would crush our lungs. Also sunlight diminishes as we enter this world of gloom—the temperature of the water drops fast. We are in a world like no other- a world between worlds.

“Whale swimming in deep waters often represents your own search for deeper awareness about yourself or the universe. A whale spout is a type of air or wind dream, in which you seek out the breath of life and perhaps a break from being emotionally or empathetically immersed. Alternatively, this may represent the liberation of positive ideas and energy.”A symbol reflective of the regenerative power of water to refresh your ideas, bring peace and healing, and smooth out the rough spots in life.”

Patricia Telesco/The Language of Dreams

“It had never occurred to me that feeling empty might actually be a route to something deeper and richer within.
Tony Schwartz

Hopefully these interpretations may help Lisa in searching for wellness. If she feels a tinge of recognition or resistance to anything written here, then she should explore those avenues more. What’s happening—the unconscious is opening, releasing it to the conscious mind. When this happens, what has laid below the surface, in the dark so to speak, has risen to the surface, into the light.

We all have limits. When we reach them, we feel stopped in our tracks, boxed in, or even crushed under their weight. But, by expanding our belief in our own capabilities, we will produce an expanding energy which creates more space around us. This pushes those limits up and out and away from you so that they no longer pressurize you.

Since “Lisa” is not my friend’s real name, she won’t be able to comment on this blog. If she sends an email of her thoughts and allows me to post it, I’ll create a new section for all of you to see.